Berlin, July 31, (dpa/GNA) – A company belonging to the German army’s elite Special Commando Forces (KSK) has been dismantled following allegations of right-wing extremism, a Defence Ministry spokesperson told dpa on Thursday.
The second company of the Bunsdeswehr’s KSK was dismantled following an appeal at the KSK barracks located in Calw in Baden-Wuerttemberg, with some soldiers transferred to other KSK companies, the spokesperson said.
Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer had announced the step four weeks earlier as part of wider measures to halt right-wing extremism within the KSK forces, which are trained for special operations such as freeing hostages, after several incidents had caused a scandal.
Out of the four KSK companies, the second had come under fire for organizing a party in April 2017 during which soldiers threw around a pig’s heads while listening to extreme-right rock music and making the Hitler salute, which is banned in Germany.
In May 2020, police found explosives and ammunition stashed on the property of a soldier of the second company.
Following the incidents, Kramp-Karrenbauer elaborated a wider plan comprising 60 measures to tackle right-wing extremism within the KSK, which has around 300 soldiers and several hundred additional staff, though official figures are not known.
The remaining KSK soldiers have been given until October 31 to prove themselves. If allegations resurface, Kramp-Karrenbauer has threatened a complete dissolution of the KSK.
GNA